PAYING UP: During the World Series, Fort Worth Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis made a little wager – the head of the company from the losing city has to sing a famous piece from the canon with new baseball-specific lyrics. Well, we all know how the Series turned out, so enjoy Darren K. Woods singing “The Toreador Song” from Carmen with new lyrics from Cardinals fan Linda Gurney. Keep you’re head up, Darren – we here at KERA owe the St. Louis NPR station a little barbecue, so you’re not the only one paying up these days.

THEY’RE IN THE MONEY: The Dallas Opera sends words that it has raised the $20 million it sought for its “Cultural Renaissance Endowment Fund.” That’s because $10 million in new donations have come in, which triggered a matching $10 million donation from an anonymous donor. The purpose of the campaign is to ensure the opera’s long-term health. “While we will continue to rely on generous donors for our baseline operating support, the Dallas Opera is in a dramatically stronger financial position than was the case two years ago, or even four months ago,” Dallas Opera Chairman Kern Wildenthal said in a news release.

QUOTABLE: “I was about 9 years old. My dad was a doctor and he took me on a fishing trip with three other doctors. I remember sitting at the table, and I was telling them a story and they were all laughing. And I knew they were laughing with me, not at me. And I thought, ‘Oh, this is very nice. I can make grown-up people laugh.’ I’ve been hooked on hearing that laugh ever since.”